Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue at Christmas Tree Cove

L >> Laura Lee Hope >> Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue at Christmas Tree Cove

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"Well, have you come to take another look for the ring?" asked the
carpenter. "It isn't here. Bunker Blue and I looked all over."

"I don't see what that dog could have done with it," said Bunny, as he
glanced around the newly-swept shop. "He surely came in here with the
pocketbook."

"Yes, I saw the dog running around my yard," admitted the carpenter.
"But I didn't see him have anything. Well, it's one of those things that
never will be found, I s'pose. Here's the wood you want, and I'll not
lock you in this time," and he smiled at Bunny and Sue as he thought of
what had happened the other night.

Another errand took the children down to their father's dock, and there
they saw Bunker Blue and Captain Ross working aboard the _Fairy_.

"I'm getting her in good shape for you, messmates!" called the jolly
sailor. "And it reminds me of a riddle. Do you see that barrel of water
there?" he asked, pointing to one on deck.

"Yes, I see it," admitted Bunny.

"Well, here's a riddle about it," went on the captain. "That barrel,
we'll say, weighs ten pounds when it is empty. Now, what could I fill it
with so it would weigh only seven pounds?"

"Why, Captain Ross, if that barrel weighs _ten_ pounds when it hasn't
got anything in it, you couldn't fill it with anything to make it weigh
_seven_ pounds. It would weigh _more_ than ten pounds if you filled it
with anything."

"Oh, no, it wouldn't!" the sailor said. "If I filled it full of holes,
boring 'em in with one of Mr. Foswick's augers, then the barrel
wouldn't weigh so much, would it? I'd cut a lot of wood out of the sides
when I made the holes. Ha! Ha!"

Bunny thought it over for a minute. Then he laughed.

"That's a pretty good riddle," he said.

"I'm glad you like it," went on Captain Ross. "After this, when anybody
asks what you can fill a barrel or a box with to make it weigh less,
just tell 'em to fill it full of holes! Ha! Ha!" and he clapped his big
hand down on his bigger leg and laughed heartily.

Bunny and Sue laughed also, and they knew they were going to have a
jolly time on the trip to Christmas Tree Cove with Captain Ross to sail
the _Fairy_, or, if there was no wind, to send the craft through the
water by her gasolene engine.

This engine Bunker Blue was working on to mend, as it had been broken
just before the two Bunker children went adrift from their father's
dock.

"Will it be ready to sail to-morrow?" asked Bunny, as he watched Bunker
hammering away at the motor.

"Oh, yes," was the answer. "There isn't much the matter with her. We'll
be able to pull out in the morning."

And by hard work everything was finished that night on board the
_Fairy_. Uncle Tad, the jolly old soldier, announced that he had his
"knapsack" packed and enough "rations" to last him for a week, anyhow.

As they were to make an early morning start, Bunny and Sue had said
good-bye to their boy and girl friends the evening before. As they
walked past Mr. Foswick's carpenter shop with Uncle Tad, who went down
the street with them at the last minute to buy something Mrs. Brown
wanted, the children looked at the wood-working place.

"Wouldn't it be funny if that dog should be hiding around here?" asked
Sue of her brother.

"Yes," he agreed, "it would be. But I don't see him."

"I guess if he is here he's hiding," Sue went on. "Maybe there's a hole
under the floor of the shop and he's there, just as once at Grandpa's
farm in the country we found where a hen had her nest under the floor
in the barn. And it had eggs in it!"

"Dogs don't make nests like hens," said Bunny.

"Oh, I know that!" retorted Sue. "But maybe this dog hid the pocketbook
under the boards in the shop floor."

"I hardly think so," put in Uncle Tad. "He probably dropped that
pocketbook in the street, and either some one picked it up and kept it,
or else it was dropped down a sewer."

"But if anybody found it, wouldn't we have got it back?" asked Bunny.
"Daddy put an advertisement in the paper."

"Maybe we would and maybe we wouldn't," said Uncle Tad. "Anyhow, it's
gone."

Bright and early the next morning Bunny Brown and his sister Sue went
aboard the _Fairy_, which was tied at their father's dock. The Brown
home had been shut up, the things that were needed had been put on board
the boat, Mrs. Brown was keeping an eye on the children to see that they
did not stray away, and Uncle Tad was stowing away the baggage in the
cabin.

Soon Mr. Brown, Bunker Blue, and Captain Ross would come on board and
the voyage would start.

The _Fairy_ was large enough for the whole family, as well as the
"crew," to sleep on board. The crew generally was made up of Captain
Ross and a man and a boy. But this time Mr. Brown was going to take the
place of the man, and Bunker Blue would be the "boy," so that it was
more of a family party. Mr. Brown had known Captain Ross for many years,
and the children felt as though he were as nearly related to them as was
Uncle Tad.

"All aboard!" called the captain, as he came down the wharf from Mr.
Brown's office, accompanied by Mr. Brown and Bunker Blue. "Are you all
aboard?" and he smiled at Bunny and Sue.

"Yes, we're here," Bunny answered.

"Isn't he funny, Mother?" whispered Sue. "He can look right at us, and
yet he wants to know if we're here!"

"It's just his joking way," said Mrs. Brown.

"I've got another good riddle for you, youngsters," called Captain Ross,
as he made his way along the deck. "What kind of tree would scare a
cat?"

"There wouldn't any tree scare a cat," declared Bunny. "I've seen a cat
climb up a tree lots of times. Cats aren't scared of trees!"

"Well, wouldn't a dogwood tree scare a cat?" chuckled the sailor. "Ha!
Ha! I'm sure it would. I don't believe you could get a cat to climb a
_dog_wood tree!" he went on.

"That _is_ a funny riddle!" declared Bunny. "I'm going to tell it to
Charlie Star when we come back from Christmas Tree Cove."

"We'd better get there first," went on Captain Ross, still chuckling at
his riddle. "Cast off, Bunker Blue!"

Bunker loosed the ropes that held the _Fairy_ to the wharf, and the boat
slowly drifted away.

"Oh, we've really started!" cried Sue, as she saw the open water between
the rail and the string-piece of the wharf.

"We'll go faster than this!" exclaimed Bunny. "Wait till Bunker Blue
starts the motor."

As there was not enough wind to allow the sails to be used, it was
needful to start the motor, and soon it was chugging away, sending the
_Fairy_ swiftly along through the water.

Bunny and Sue were delighted with the trip. They sat in camp-chairs on
deck and watched the different sights. They expected to cruise about on
the boat for perhaps three days before going to the Cove. They could
sleep in the little bunks with which the boat was provided.

"It's a funny way to go to bed," said Sue, after looking at the bunks
for the tenth time.

"Well, I guess you can sleep here just as well as at home," answered her
brother.

"You'd better not walk in your sleep, Bunny, 'cause you might walk
overboard."

"I ain't going to walk in my sleep any more," answered Bunny. "I told
daddy I wasn't."

"Maybe you can't help it."

"Yes, I can. You wait and see."

It was toward the close of the afternoon, and Bunny and Sue were
beginning to wonder how much longer it would be before supper was ready,
when, as they stood near Bunker, who was steering, the children saw a
canoe with two young men and two young women in it being slowly paddled
across the bay.

"They'd better watch where they're going," said Bunker Blue. "They seem
to be aiming to cross our bows, and if they do---- Look out there!" he
suddenly cried, as the canoe turned. "Do you want to be run down?"

The next moment there was a collision. The _Fairy_ struck the small
boat, upsetting it and spilling into the water the two young men and the
young women.

"Oh! Oh!" cried Sue. "We've run over 'em!"

CHAPTER IX

THE MERRY GOAT

Bunny Brown, who had been sitting near his sister Sue on the deck of the
_Fairy_, had jumped to his feet and run to the rail, or side of the
boat, as the little girl cried out that their craft had run over the
canoe. That was really what had happened. The two young men and the
young women in the canoe had got in the way of the motor boat, and had
been struck.

"Man overboard!" yelled Bunny. He had often enough heard that cry on his
father's boat and on the pier, for more than once boys or men had fallen
off into the water. Sometimes on warm summer days the boys pushed each
other off, just for fun.

And often, at such times, the cry would be raised:

"Man overboard!"

Bunny knew what that meant. It meant that somebody ought to jump to the
rescue or throw into the water something the person who had fallen in
could grab. There were, on his father's dock, a number of life
buoys--round rings of cork covered with canvas and having a long rope
attached to them. And there were some of these same things on the deck
of the _Fairy_.

"Man overboard!" cried Bunny again, and, running to the nearest life
ring, he took it off the hook and sent it spinning into the water. Bunny
knew that the end of the rope was fast to the rail, so the buoy would
not be lost.

Bunker Blue also acted quickly. Near the wheel by which the _Fairy_ was
steered was a wire, which, when pulled, shut off the motor down in the
hold of the craft. Bunker Blue pulled this wire, and the boat began to
slow up. Then Bunker leaped to the side of the _Fairy_ near Bunny, and
Bunker caught up another life ring and tossed it over the rail.

As Bunny and Sue leaned over to catch sight of the four people in the
water, Captain Ross and Daddy Brown came hurrying up on deck from the
little cabin, where they had been talking with Mrs. Brown.

"What's the matter?" cried Captain Ross. "Did we hit anything, Bunker?"

"Yes, a canoe with four people in it. We ran 'em down. They crossed
right in front of our bows! I'll get 'em!"

The next minute Bunker peeled off his coat, slipped from his feet the
loose, rubber-soled shoes he wore, and leaped over the rail.

"Oh! Oh!" gasped Sue.

"He's going to save 'em!" cried Bunny. "I wish I could jump in and----"

"Don't dare try that, Bunny Brown!" cried his mother, who heard what he
started to say, and she put a hand on his shoulder to hold him.

"They're all right," reported Mr. Brown, looking over the side of the
boat. "All four of them can swim, and the young men have given the young
ladies the life rings. They don't seem to be much frightened. Bunker is
swimming for the canoe. I guess they'll be all right."

"Yes, it looks so," said Captain Ross, also taking a look over the
side. "Though the canoe may be stove in so it'll leak. Mighty foolish of
'em to try to cross in front of our bows! I expect we'll have to take
'em all on board here."

"Oh, yes, we must!" cried Mrs. Brown. "But what shall we do about dry
clothes for them? Possibly I can let the young ladies have some of my
extra dresses, but the young men----"

"Oh, I guess we can fit 'em out," broke in Captain Ross. "It's warm, and
they won't want much. First thing to do is to get 'em on board I reckon.
How about you?" he called down to the struggling people in the water.
"Need any more help?"

"We're all right," answered one of the young men. "But will you take us
aboard? The canoe's smashed!"

"Sure, we'll take you on board," answered the captain.

And then, as Bunny and Sue watched, they saw their father and Captain
Ross help pull up to the deck of the _Fairy_ first the two young women,
dripping wet. They looked very much bedraggled, but they were laughing
and did not seem to mind what had happened.

Next the two young men scrambled up, pulling themselves by means of the
ropes from the life buoys. And last of all came Bunker Blue. He had the
rope of the smashed and overturned canoe in one hand and was towing it
along as he swam slowly. It was not easy work to drag the canoe through
the water, submerged as it was, but Bunker did it, fastening the canoe
rope to the rail of the _Fairy_.

Then he scrambled up on deck, shook the water from his face and hair,
and said:

"I'll get a boat hook and fish up the paddles. They're floating around
down there."

"Oh, don't bother," urged one of the young ladies. "It was all my fault.
I steered the canoe right in your way. We ran into you--you didn't run
into us."

"Well, I'm glad you feel that way about it," said Captain Ross, while
Bunny and Sue watched the little puddles and streams of water dripping
from the recent occupants of the canoe and from Bunker Blue.

"Is the canoe worth saving?" asked Mr. Brown, as he looked down to
where it now floated at the side of the _Fairy_, held fast by the line
Bunker had brought on board.

"I don't think so," said one of the young men. "It was an old one, and
now the side is stove in. Let it go. It will drift ashore anyhow, and we
can get it later if we want to. You might save the paddles if you can.
I'll help," he offered.

"I'll help," offered the other young man, and while these two, with
Bunker, sought to save the paddles with boat hooks, the broken canoe was
cast loose from the _Fairy_ and allowed to drift off.

"If you'll come down to the cabin with me," said Mrs. Brown to the young
ladies, "I'll see if I can lend you some other clothes while yours are
drying."

"Oh, don't bother!" said one of the young ladies. "It was all just fun.
We had on old clothes, for we half expected to be upset before we got
back."

But Mrs. Brown insisted on making them change, and so she led them down
into the cabin. Uncle Tad helped in the work of recovering the paddles,
and then he suggested that the two young men might also like to take off
their wet things.

"Oh, not at all," said one. "We're used to being wet. And we'll soon
dry, anyhow. It was very decent of you to jump in after us," he said to
Bunker. "As it happens, we can all swim pretty well, and it isn't the
first time we've been upset. But I was afraid one of the girls might
have been hurt. As it is, we're all right."

"And mighty lucky you are to be that way," commented Captain Ross. "I'm
glad it was no worse. Now where do you want to be set ashore?"

"We're staying at that hotel," said Mr. Watson, for such was the name of
one of the young men. He pointed to a large seaside resort on the shore
not far away.

"Well, we'll head for the dock," decided the captain, and soon the
_Fairy_ was moving along again, the floating paddles having been
recovered.

The young ladies soon came on deck, wearing some garments belonging to
Mrs. Brown. They were laughing and joking at the upset. The young men
refused to change, saying it was not worth while.

"It's too bad you lost your canoe," said Bunny, as he and his sister
listened to the talk of the rescued party.

"Oh, it was only an old one I owned," said Mr. Watson. "It isn't a great
loss. I'm afraid you girls had some things sunk, though," he added.
"There wasn't much time to save anything."

"I lost my pocketbook," said one of the young women, who was called
Mildred by her companions. "There was only about a dollar in it,
though," she added.

"My mother lost her pocketbook, and it had five dollars and her diamond
ring in it," put in Sue.

"Did you? Do you mean to-day?" asked the other young lady, who had been
addressed as Grace.

"Oh, no. It was some time ago," explained Mrs. Brown.

"A dog took it," volunteered Bunny. "And he ran into a carpenter shop,
and we ran after him--Sue and I did--and we got locked in and I busted
a window and----"

"He's going into all the details!" laughed Mr. Brown.

But the young men and the young women were so interested in what the
children said that they had to hear the whole story.

"I'm sure I hope you get your engagement ring back," said Mildred to
Mrs. Brown, and the young lady looked at her own hand, on which sparkled
a diamond. Perhaps it was her engagement ring.

"It is too much to hope for," replied Mrs. Brown. "I am trying not to
think of it."

"Did you see me throw the life buoy to you?" asked Bunny, changing the
subject.

"I'm afraid I didn't," answered Grace with a laugh.

"And my eyes were too full of water," added Mildred.

"Well, anyhow, I threw one in to you," went on Bunny.

"And I yelled when I saw you get run over," added Sue, just as if that,
too, had helped.

"I'm sure you did all you could," declared Mr. Watson. "And it was all
our own fault that we got in your way. But no one is hurt, and we're
little the worse for our adventure."

The _Fairy_ slowly headed toward the dock near the big summer hotel,
which was one of a number at a well-known resort on the bay. Some other
boats had come up after having seen the canoe run down, but when it was
found no help was needed, they sheered off again.

"How can we return your things to you?" asked the young ladies of Mrs.
Brown, as they prepared to go ashore when the boat tied up at the dock.

"There is no special hurry," was the answer. "We are going to Christmas
Tree Cove for the summer. You can send them there."

"I have a better plan," said Mr. Brown. "Why should we not stay here
over night? We can tie up at this dock and go ashore for an evening of
enjoyment. That will give the young ladies a chance to get into other
dry clothes and give you back yours," he said to his wife.

"Oh, yes! Let's stay!" cried Bunny. "We can have a lot of fun on shore!"

"And there's a merry-go-round!" added Sue. "I can see it!"

She pointed to one of the popular summer attractions set up near the
hotel on the beach.

"Very well, we'll stay," said Mother Brown; and so it was arranged.

The four young people went ashore, the young ladies in borrowed clothes,
and the men, in their own damp garments, carrying the paddles. They
attracted some little attention from the crowd on the dock. It was very
evident what had happened. But as canoe upsets are very common at shore
resorts in the summer, no one took it very seriously, especially as no
one was drowned or hurt.

"We'll send back your things in the morning," called Mildred and Grace
to Mrs. Brown, as they went up to the hotel.

"You'll find us right here," said Captain Ross. "I'm mighty glad it was
no worse," he said to his friends on the _Fairy_. "I should hate to have
your summer outing spoiled by an accident, even if it was the fault of
those in the canoe. But it reminds me of a riddle. See if you can guess
it, Bunny and Sue. What goes under the water and over the water and
never touches the water?"

"A fish!" guessed Bunny.

"A fish is always in the water," cried Sue, laughing.

"Oh, so it is," said her brother.

"Say it again," begged Sue.

The jolly captain did so, and when Bunny and Sue gave up, after several
wrong guesses, the seaman said:

"A man walking over a bridge with a pail of water on his head. He goes
_over_ the water, and he's _under_ the water in the pail, and yet he
doesn't touch the water."

"Oh, that's a good riddle!" laughed Bunny. "I'm going to fool Bunker on
that."

"If the water pail upset and spilled on him then the water would touch
him," said Sue, after a moment of thought. "And if he fell in the water
he'd be wet."

"Yes, but you aren't supposed to do that in riddles," returned Captain
Ross.

After supper on the _Fairy_, Uncle Tad took the two children on
shore, Bunny and Sue having secured their mother's permission to ride on
the merry-go-round. It was a big affair, playing jolly tunes, and the
animals were large and gaily painted.

Bunny and Sue had a number of rides, always begging for "just one more,"
until Uncle Tad finally said:

"No, that's enough! You'll be ill if you whirl around any more. Come,
we'll walk around and look at things, and then we'll go back to the
boat."

He led them around to see the other attractions at the little park near
the big hotel. Somehow or other, Bunny wandered away from Uncle Tad and
Sue while Sue and the old soldier were looking at a man blowing colored
glass into birds, feathers, balloons and other fantastic shapes.

But finally Uncle Tad said:

"Come, Sue, we must be going now. Where's Bunny?"

"He was here a minute ago," answered Bunny's sister.

She looked around. They were on a plaza, or open space, at one end of
which stood the musical merry-go-round. At the other end was a drive
where little ponies and carts could be hired for short rides.

As Sue and Uncle Tad looked, there suddenly dashed from this place a
large, white goat. And on the back of the goat was Bunny Brown, clinging
fast!

"Oh, look! Look!" cried Sue. "It's a merry-go-round goat! It's a merry
goat, and Bunny's having a ride on his back!"

As she spoke the animal dashed straight for the whirling carousel, and
Bunny's face, showing some fright, was turned toward his uncle and his
sister.

CHAPTER X

IN THE STORM

Before Sue and Uncle Tad could do anything, even if they had known what
to do, something very queer happened. The goat, on whose back Bunny was
riding, jumped up on the big, circular platform of the merry-go-round.
It was on this platform that the wooden animals, birds, and fishes were
built, and where, also, were the broad wooden seats for older folk, who
did not like to get on the back of a lion or a camel and be twirled
around.

The platform was broad, for boys and girls had to step up on it to make
their way to whatever animal they wanted to sit on, and the men who
collected the tickets also had to walk around on this wooden platform
while the machine was in motion. And it was in motion when the live goat
jumped on it.

There was plenty of room for "Billy" on the merry-go-round, though why
he jumped up on it I cannot say. You can hardly ever tell why a goat
does things, anyhow.

[Illustration: THE GOAT LEAPED UPON THE MOVING MERRY-GO-ROUND.

_Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue at Christmas Tree Cove._ _Page 104_]

Right up on the moving merry-go-round leaped the goat, with Bunny
clinging to the long hair of his back. The goat slid along until he came
up beside a lion, on whose back a frowsy young person was riding.

"Oh, my!" cried this girl, "one of the wooden animals has come to life."
She screamed and would have fallen from the lion, Sue thought, but for
the fact that a young man was standing beside her. He had come around to
collect her ticket and when he heard her scream and saw her sway back
and forth he grasped her.

"Sit still!" advised the ticket-taker.

"But look! Look!" cried the girl. "One of the wooden animals has come to
life! Oh, I'm so afraid! And look! He has a little boy on his back!"

The goat on which Bunny was riding was quite large, really as big as one
of the wooden goats of the merry-go-round, and, as the make-believe
creatures were painted to resemble the real animals as nearly as
possible, the sight was a surprising one.

"Nonsense!" exclaimed the young man ticket-taker. "It isn't one of the
wooden animals! It's a real goat from the ones over by the ponies. He's
alive, of course."

The frowsy girl giggled.

"And I'm alive, too!" added Bunny, his hands wound in the goat's long
hair. "But I didn't want to ride the goat up here!"

"Oh, Bunny! Bunny!" shouted Sue from the outer edge of the
merry-go-round, which she and Uncle Tad had now reached. "Look out,
Bunny, or you'll fall off!"

There was a laugh from the crowd of evening pleasure-seekers that had
gathered at the shore resort.

"I am holding on!" cried Bunny. "Whoa now, goat!" he called.

"Stop the machine!" exclaimed Uncle Tad.

"All right; we'll stop it," said the ticket-taker, who still held to the
frowsy young person on the back of the lion.

The goat seemed quiet enough now. After it had jumped up on the moving
platform, with Bunny on its back, the animal just stood there, looking
around. Perhaps it felt quite at home with the wooden horses, the
ostriches, lions, tigers, camels, and other creatures so gaily painted
and with pieces of looking glass stuck all over them.

Slowly the merry-go-round came to a stop, and the ticket-taker, letting
go of the girl, who had not fallen from the back of the lion, hurried to
Bunny's side.

"I'll lift you off," he said.

"Thank you," answered Bunny. A moment later he was walking over to join
Sue and Uncle Tad, while a man stepped from the crowd and took charge of
the goat, which he led to the edge of the platform. The goat leaped down
and off as Bunny had done.

"I hope my goat didn't hurt you when he ran away with you," said the
man, walking up to Bunny, Sue, and Uncle Tad and leading the horned
creature.

"Oh, no, he didn't hurt me," Bunny answered. "But I didn't think he'd
run away with me just 'cause I got on his back."

"He isn't used to having boys and girls on his back unless he wears a
saddle," the man explained.

"Did you jump on the goat's back, Bunny?" asked Uncle Tad.

"Well, I didn't exactly _jump_ on," replied the little boy. "I was
leaning over, looking at him, and I sort of wanted to see how it would
feel to get on his back. And I did, and then he ran up on the
merry-go-round with me. But I held on so I wouldn't fall."

"It's a good thing you did!" declared Sue.

"How did it happen?" asked Uncle Tad.

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